Help Aid Sergio’s Surgery, Recovery, and Family Needs

Hi Friends and Family,

My name is Leslie Metayer. I started a GoFundMe for my brother’s family because of my brother Sergio Leiva’s current medical condition. In the span of 5 months since March 2024, brother Sergio has undergone 4 spinal surgeries and is now facing a fifth one. He had developed severe herniated discs in his back due to working hard in the window installation industry which over time took its toll on him over the years. So much so, had he waited much longer for an operation, he could have been potentially paralyzed because of the bulging discs pressing on his nerves. He even began to feel numbness in his legs.

Often times, he physically could not afford to work as a result of the intense back pain. He sought out a neurologist to acquire the surgery he needed to rectify the issues in his back. We prayed and hoped for a successful surgery and recovery. But not long after, a second operation was needed after the first one because of another bulging disc that developed during recovery. During recovery time for the second surgery, somehow and unbeknownst to my brother, a spinal bone broke in pieces where one of the rods were in place which required him to go in for a third operation to secure in more rods beyond what was in place. As Sergio began to recover from the third surgery, he developed a spinal leak. This caused him to have headaches, nausea, vomiting, and hearing robotic voices when anyone spoke to him. So, he underwent a fourth operation to close the hole. His surgeon did not completely close the hole as he explained to Sergio that the hole can close on its own and that the cerebrospinal fluid needed to refill. The surgery was temporarily successful as it did alleviate the aforementioned symptoms. But now the symptoms have since come back which brings us to his fifth surgery that he will receive from a different surgery team this coming Tuesday, August 27th. My brother Sergio’s quality of life has been impacted emotionally, mentally, and physically. He has not been able to work and provide for his wife Judy and two children, Gabriel (9) and Aemilia (5). Not only has it impacted him psychologically but also his family. They are all emotionally impacted as they’ve gone through the roller coaster of what ifs, anxieties, and multiple surgeries. My sister in law Judy works for the state and has been doing what she can to care for her family but the surmounting medical bills and costs are over their heads. My brother is mostly bedridden for the past 5 months and hasn’t been able to complete any physical therapy as a result of undergoing many operations in a short span of time.

As a family, they need any monetary help they can get. Even if they do not reach the goal to help pay medical bills and other expenses, they genuinely would be content to receive anything you are willing to give even if it’s just your thoughts and prayers especially for this upcoming 5th surgery. Thank you so much for taking the time to read their story. We appreciate it, please share this if you can.